Comment LONDON — King Charles III and Camilla, the queen consort, were visiting the city of York on Wednesday when a protester threw at least three eggs at them, chanting “this country was built on the blood of slaves.” He failed in his aim and was quickly arrested by the police while the crowd booed and chanted “God Save the King”. Charles appeared unfazed by the commotion – although he did appear to look at the eggs that had been splattered on the pavement – and continued to chat with city leaders as he walked down the street. He and Camilla were in the northern city to unveil a statue of his late mother Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III wants to look ahead. “The Crown” drags him back. It is not the first time the new king, who has been in office for just two months, has faced protests. In the days following the Queen’s death, several people were arrested for organizing demonstrations. A woman was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the Queen was resting, for holding a sign with the verbiage and the words “abolish the monarchy”. Another was arrested for shouting “who elected him” as a document officially declaring Charles as king was read aloud in Oxford, England. The police response has sparked a debate about free speech in the UK. Members of the royal family generally receive a warm welcome when they take walks or travel abroad. But this isn’t the first incident of royal egg-throwing either – although you have to look far back to find one for Charles’ predecessor. During the Queen’s royal tour of New Zealand in 1986, she was hit with an egg thrown at her by a woman protesting Britain’s treaty with Maori tribes. The queen was in an open car and the egg hit her pink coat. Wednesday’s egg-throwing incident comes on the same day that the fifth season of “The Crown” is released on Netflix. The timing is inconvenient for Charles, who is in the very early days of his reign. This series focuses on the 1990s, which revisits the break-up of his marriage to Princess Diana and some of the more painful chapters in his life.
